Mourning
by Cosmic Guardian
Summary: Grief is a natural response to loss. It's the emotional suffering you feel when something or someone you love is taken away. The more significant the loss, the more intense the grief will be. You may associate grief with the death of a loved one—which is often the cause of the most intense type of grief—but any loss can cause grief. Side story after Hollow Soldier.


Just a short story that takes place one month after the events of Hollow soldier.

! #$%^&*()_+

Kirito landed in Russia after fling for three hours. Lance and Alisa climbed down from the griffin, Alisa lead the way to a cemetery. The three enter and walked by several graves, at the end was a black wall, five feet high and ten feet long.

"This is where the names of all who died are written." Alisa stepped up to the wall, she reached out her hand then stopped. "I can't ."

Lance stood beside her, rubbing her back. "You can, when your ready."

Alisa exhaled slowly and searched the wall for her parent's names, when she found them Alisa put her hand next to their names and began to cry. "Mommy... Daddy." Lance was silent as his girlfriend cried. "I'm okay. I'm doing my best and I have people who care about me, even some who love me. Please rest in peace, I love you daddy, mommy."

Alisa turned and walked away from the wall. Lance offered Alisa a cloth for her tears and Alisa just hugged him. "Thank you."

"Of course." As Alisa returned to their griffin Lance stood up to the wall. "Hello... They say meeting parents is never easy, I guess it's still true here." Lance glaces at some of the other names on the wall. "So much death, it never really hits you until see what the body count is. You have a wonderful little girl and I'm doing everything in my power to protect her." Lance placed his hand on the wall. "Watch over us and see the beautiful woman your daughter will be." Lance walked away to rejoin Alisa.

The couple journeyed around the Russia branch, Lance did his best to talk to the locals as they passed by but his Russian was far from good enough.

Alisa lead Lance around until they arrived to an alleyway, she frozen when she realized where they were. "Oh no." Alisa covered her mouth and backed away. "This..."

Lance spun Alisa around and put his arm over her. "It's okay, we don't have to go in there."

 _"Here we come... Okay ready... Aragami, it's an aragami...!"_ The memories of that day can back to Alisa. "I have too."

"Okay." Lance let go and stepped aside. "I'm here for you and we can leave if it's too much."

Alisa slowly walked down the alley, each step was just as painful as the last. Halfway she saw the dresser she hid in was gone. She stopped and looked down at her feet. "They... they died right here."

Lance approached Alisa and held her. "Thank you."

Ten minutes later Alisa was able to calm down. "How do you feel?"

"Like... Like there's this hole inside me that's getting smaller."

"That's good. By facing your fears you're learning to move on. Grieving isn't about getting better, we never get better. We just accept our new reality." The couple started walking out of the alleyway. "Come on, let's get out of here. If you're up for it, maybe you'd like to show me around you're childhood home."

Alisa wiped the tears from her eyes and smiled. "I'd love too."

...

The next day Lance and Alisa got on a plane and flew to Canada. Once there the couple rented a jeep and rode to the outskirts of the country. They were on the edge of a forest, there they found a ruined house with multiple plants growing out of it.

"Six years ago this was my home." Said Lance.

"What are you feeling?" Asked Alisa, climbing out of the jeep.

"Empty."

"Are you sure you can do this?"

"No,. But I have too." The couple walked to the first tree of the woods, there they found a boulder with a grave dug in front of it. On the large stone the name 'Alma Firestar' carved on it.

Lance fell to his knees in front of a grave. "Mom... I'm home." Lance felt his body go numb, all of the memories came rushing back to him. both the good and bad. Lance fell on his hands then punched the ground. "I'm sorry... I'm sorry."

Alisa kneeled down and placed her hand on his back. "Lan..."

"She died to protect me."

"Do you think your mother would still be alive if you weren't born? Is that a life she would have wanted?" Lance lifted his head up to look at his girlfriend. "You gave her the strength to break free from her imprisonment."

"She died to protect me..."

"Was you mother happy in the time you were together?"

Tears formed in Lance's eyes as he smiled, Lance sat up and hugged Alisa tightly. "You're right." The duel welder turned back to the grave. "Mom, this world is still worth saving, hope is in short supplies but I will keep the people I love safe, even if it costs me my life again. And that's not enough I'll keep coming back even stronger." Lance spun around to Alisa. "Though I have no intention to die again."

Alisa lightly punched Lance in the side of the head. "You better not."

Lance stood up and looked into the cloudless sky. "I think I can finally let my past go. I'm starting to get sick of it dragging me down."

"Do you feel better?"

"It's not about feeling better..."

"It's about learning to accept our new reality."

Lance smiled a little. "Using my own words on me." Lance lowered his gaze to the grave. "Mom. Please keep watching over me, I'll save this world and make you proud."

Alisa wrapped her arms around Lance's left arm. "I know she is. If you're up for it maybe you could show me around your childhood home."

"I'd love too." Lance wiped the tears form his eyes. "Good bye... Mom." The couple left the grave and returned to their jeep, returning to their home in the far east.

! #$%^&*()_+}"?:{!

Please review, it keeps us writers going. Thank you all for sticking with me for almost three years now. I hope to have all your continued support in future projects.

Till next time CG out. PEACE!


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